


five times Tamaki left plus one time he stayed

by kashuumitsus



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Playdates, Time Skips, general softness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 02:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20302123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kashuumitsus/pseuds/kashuumitsus
Summary: Five times Tamaki left Iori behind (involuntarily or voluntarily), and one time he stayed with him.***Tamaki hurries so he can walk beside him, and leans a bit down. “I’m Yotsuba Tamaki, by the way!”“Izumi Iori.” The reply is short and Iori doesn’t even look at him.





	five times Tamaki left plus one time he stayed

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello!  
I decided to participate in this year's i7 flashbang, and honestly this was one of the best things that I've decided to do. I got to meet so many amazing people, and one of them is none other than the awesome [@izumi_iorin](https://twitter.com/izumi_iorin), who created the beautiful art for this fic!! I'd like to thank her for her hard work and truly amazing art <3
> 
> without further ado, enjoy reading this<3

** _one._ **

“Mom, c’mon, hurry up!” Tamaki says, pulling on his mother’s arm so that they reach the playground faster.

His mother laughs, her laughter twinkling in the warm summer evening. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

It’s just the two of them now, his sister had to stay home after coming down with a sudden cold, his father staying at home with her. Tamaki loves his sister, but he can’t really play tag with her because she’s too slow and Tamaki always catches her and that’s not really fun. 

When they get to the playground, there are already other kids running around or climbing on the monkey bars or swinging on the swings or sliding down the slides with an excited squeal. But what catches Tamaki’s eyes, is that there’s one boy around his age who’s playing in the sandbox all alone. He’s sitting with his back to Tamaki, so other than his black hair, Tamaki can’t really see what he looks like. 

He pulls on his mother’s sleeve. “Hey, mom, can I play with that boy?”

“The one in the sandbox?” His mother asks, a proud and kind smile on her face. “Sure.”

Tamaki hugs her - or well, her legs, because he’s not tall enough yet - and bounds towards the sandbox. When he gets there, he peeks over the shoulder of the other boy. “Whatcha making?”

The boy startles, tipping forward as he loses his balance from turning around. He lands right in the middle of what he was making, and glares up at Tamaki. 

“I was making a sandcastle but now it’s all ruined!”

Tamaki feels a little bad, and an idea pops into his head, announcing it with a wide grin. “I’ll help you make it again!” 

The other boy looks at him suspiciously. “You won’t ruin it again?”

“No, I pinky-swear!”

“Alright then,” the boy says, linking his pinky with Tamaki’s. “Let’s make the biggest sandcastle ever!”

They start building the sandcastle, and while some towers keep toppling over and it’s leaning towards the left a little bit, it’s their sandcastle and they’re proud of it. 

Just as Tamaki’s about to suggest they go play pirates on one of the slides, his mother calls for him. 

“Tamaki, sweetie, let’s head home, it’s dinnertime soon.”

“But mooooom, I wanna play pirates with…” he whines, but trails off as he realizes that he doesn’t even know the name of the boy he played with for the past hour. He looks at the boy, question clear in his eyes.

“My name’s Iori, nice to meet you,” Iori introduces himself to him and his mother.

His mother smiles at them. “We’ll set up a playdate the next time so you can play together, alright?”

Both of them grin at her with exaggerated nods. Tamaki takes her hand, and as they walk away, he waves back at Iori.

“Bye, Iorin!”

** _two._ **

After that first meeting, they meet on the playground a few times before Iori’s mom says that they could meet at Iorin’s house. Tamaki’s really excited because Iorin lives in an apartment over a cake shop, and he really wants to see what kinda cakes Iori’s family makes. 

His mother takes him there, and because the weather is nice, they decided to walk. When they get there, a display full of colorful cakes greet them. Tamaki marvels at the delicate whirls of decoration and colorful flowers on the cakes, practically glued to the window. He’s shaken out of his admiration when the door swings open and Iorin runs up to them.

“Tamaki, you’re here!”

He whirls around, and a huge grin spreads over his face. “Iorin!”

Iorin doesn’t hesitate to take his hand and starts dragging him inside. Tamaki can hear his mother laughing behind them, but he doesn’t really care. They walk through the shop, the atmosphere inside cozy and homey with the warm color of the walls and dark brown furniture. 

“Mom, we’re going up to play!” Iorin says as they pass what must be the kitchen.

A short woman with black hair comes out of the room, smiling at the two of them. “Iori, you won’t even introduce your friend to your father and brother?”

“No,” Iorin says, frowning. “He’s my friend.”

Iorin’s mom sighs, but motions towards the door they were originally headed for. “Alright, just be careful. You know the rules, Iori.”

“Yes, I know mom. No using anything in the kitchen without anyone there and don’t use sharp things without you or dad there.” 

Iorin’s mom ruffles their hair. “Now, off you go,” she says as she shoos them away.

Once they’re up in the apartment, Iorin turns to him. “Wanna make a pillow fort and watch Spirited Away?”

“Yes!”

They drag chairs from the dining room to the living room, setting them in front of the couch. After that’s done, they drag Iorin’s blanket out of his room, and ask for his brother’s as well. Then they try to drape the blankets over the chairs and the couch, but it keeps sliding off.

“What if we put books on it so it won’t slide off?” Tamaki asks.

Iorin doesn’t say a word, just turns around and leaves. Tamaki calls out to him, confused as to where his friend went. A few moments later, Iorin comes back with a few very heavy looking books in his hand, and Tamaki takes a few from him. Iorin thanks him, and they set the books down on the couch. It proves to be effective, because the blankets stay on.

“Alright, now all we need are a few pillows and the movie,” Iori says, and drags Tamaki with him to his room to gather the pillows. 

Once they’re back in the living room, they set the pillows down on the floor, under the canopy of blankets. Iorin goes to ask his brother to put on the movie for them, and when he comes back, they settle in comfortably to watch it.

By the middle of the movie, they’re both asleep, only their heads poking out of the fort.

Tamaki is half asleep when his mom lifts him up, but he still whispers a soft _ ‘Bye, Iorin’. _

** _three._ **

Tamaki doesn’t want to leave, but he also doesn’t really want to stay. It’s weird. It has been for a while. It’s weird not hearing his mom’s laughter throughout the house. To not eat her food.

Tamaki misses her already, but his dad said that she’s with the angels now and is not coming back.

As his father packs the last of their bags into the car, he hears someone shouting his name. He turns around, and sees Iorin running towards him.

“Ta-Tamaki…” Iorin wheezes, still breathing hard from running all the way to Tamaki’s house. 

Tamaki is surprised. “Iorin?”

“I-I didn’t want you to leave without me saying goodbye.”

Tamaki feels like crying. Iorin steps up to him and hugs him, tight and desperate. Tamaki has a feeling that Iorin doesn’t want to let him go. He doesn’t want to let go either. He doesn’t want to go. 

Just then, he has an idea. He breaks the hug and takes off one of his bracelets, then puts it in Iori’s hand. “Take this and when we meet again you can give it back.”

Iorin looks at him, and something changes in his eyes as he nods. “Okay.”

Their goodbye is interrupted by Tamaki’s dad calling for him. Tamaki steps away from Iori reluctantly, and gets into the car as his friend watches him.

His father starts the car, and pulls away from the house. 

Tamaki can only watch as his friend’s figure grows smaller and smaller, until he disappears completely.

** _four._ **

It’s the first day of the first semester, and everywhere Tamaki looks, he only sees fellow students rushing from one place to another on the college campus. His first class doesn’t start for at least half an hour, so he decides that he’s going to look around for a bit. 

Turns out, this might not have been his best idea, because the campus isn’t only big, but its layout is complex too. So Tamaki is completely lost, with only 5 minutes left until his class starts. He looks around, hoping to find someone, _ anyone _, who could point him in the right direction.

That’s when he sees the other boy. He has black hair and he’s looking ahead, his gaze focused and set on nothing but the future as he walks with purpose in his steps. Tamaki has to jog to catch up to him.

“Hey!”

The boy stops in his tracks, and turns around. When he sees Tamaki, something flashes in his eyes, but he can’t recognize what it actually is. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah,” Tamaki nods, “can you tell me where Building C is? I have a class there in 5 minutes but I have no idea where it is. Or where I am, for that matter.”

“Sure, I’m heading there anyways.” The boy says, and starts walking again.

Tamaki hurries so he can walk beside him, and leans a bit down. “I’m Yotsuba Tamaki, by the way!”

“Izumi Iori.” The reply is short and Iori doesn’t even look at him.

They walk side by side in a relatively comfortable silence, the kind of silence that can only happen after months of knowing each other. 

Soon, they arrive at the building, and before they can part ways, Tamaki grabs Iori’s arm. “Hey, can we exchange numbers? I don’t really know anyone here and I feel like we could be good friends.”

Iori hesitates for a little bit, but then sighs and gets his phone out. It has a little bunny strap on it, and for some reason it’s familiar to Tamaki, but he doesn’t mention it. He gives his own phone to Iori, and types in his number into Iori’s. 

They swap the phones back, and looking at the clock Tamaki realizes that he’s already a little late for his class. 

“See ya later, Iori!” he shouts as he sprints towards his classroom.

He doesn’t hear the answer.

Over the last few months, Tamaki and Iori fell into a routine. They’d meet up every Wednesday after their classes at a nearby coffee shop, sipping on their drinks as Iori helps Tamaki with a class they both have that Tamaki despises with all his heart. The chattering and the noise of the coffee machines are nothing but a faint buzz in the background. It’s comfortable and Tamaki likes it. 

They also meet up on some Saturday evenings just to have a meal together or catch a movie. This time Iori invited Tamaki over so they could play some games together. Tamaki thinks that they’re getting closer, and he finds that he doesn’t mind it at all. He likes to revel in Iori’s attention, he likes how easily they understand each other. 

He knows that they both like each other, even if it goes unsaid. 

When he gets there, it’s not Iori who opens the door, but his brother. Tamaki only knows it’s his brother because Iori told him that they live together.

“Ah, Tamaki-kun, come in!”

Tamaki steps inside. “Pardon the intrusion.”

“Iori’s still in the bath, but he should be out soon,” his brother says, going back into the kitchen as Tamaki follows him inside. “You can just go to his room until then. It’s the second door on the left.”

“Alright, thank you.”

He goes to Iori’s room, and it’s a small, clean room, with books in a neat column on the right side of the desk. The bed is made, not a wrinkle on the blanket, and the books on the shelves are organized by author. What stands out is an old picture, with two kids on it.

Tamaki steps closer to get a better look at it, and what he sees shocks him. It’s Tamaki himself at the age of four, sleeping soundly beside Iori on a pile of pillows and blankets.

The door opens at that moment, and Tamaki steps away from the shelf as if he’s been burned. He looks at Iori. “Did you know? All this time?”

Iori looks down, twisting the bracelet on his hand. Tamaki recognizes it as the one he gave to him. 

“Yes,” Iori answers, his eyes brimming with hurt.

Without a word, Tamaki leaves.

** _five._ **

It’s been a week since Tamaki stormed out of Iori’s apartment. They haven’t talked about what happened that evening. They haven’t talked at all, actually. Iori tried to call him a few times, but Tamaki wasn’t ready for that conversation, not yet. Not at that time. After two days, the calls stopped from Iori. 

Tamaki used that time to think things through. Yes, it hurt that Iori didn’t tell him, that he was the one in the dark. It hurt because Tamaki thought Iori liked him, liked him more than just friends. But then he thought about how Iori must have felt. How he was left behind, all alone when Tamaki moved away. How lonely he must have been. 

That’s why he decided to go and talk about this whole situation with Iori. To understand _ his _ point, to see what Iori was seeing. 

So currently he’s standing before the Izumi’s door, with slight hesitation in his heart. Squaring his shoulders, he knocks twice. The door opens, and Tamaki finds himself standing before Iori. Neither of them speak up.

Tamaki steels himself. “Iori, can we talk?” Iori nods, and Tamaki continues. “I thought about what happened last week, and while I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me, I missed you. I missed you a lot, and the routine we set up. It was weird and I didn’t like it.”

“Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t tell you. Maybe I just wanted to get to know the you you are now, and not compare it to the you you had been when we were four.” Iori sighs, running his hands through his hair, the bracelet sliding down from his wrist towards his elbow. ”Maybe I wanted you to get to know me, the way I am now, without my past self distorting that image for you. I changed a lot and maybe not in the right direction in some aspects.”

Tamaki draws his eyebrows together. “But I like you, no matter what kind of Iori you’re like. I like you when you’re grumpy. I like you when you’re focused on studying because you poke your tongue out and it’s cute. I especially like you when you’re smiling, because you look beautiful.”

Iori’s breath catches in his throat. His cheeks are slightly red, so are the tips of his ears. “You do?”

“I do.”

“I-I like you too,” Iori says, turning an even redder shade.

Tamaki grins, and presses a soft kiss onto Iori’s lips. It’s quick, it’s nothing more than a brush of lips, but it’s everything Tamaki needed.

He pulls away, and starts backing away with a smirk. “See you later, Iorin.”

** _plus one._ **

A few months later Tamaki and Iori are relaxing on the couch in the Izumi apartment. Iorin is sitting between Tamaki’s legs with a book in his hands, while Tamaki is pressing feather-light kisses to his hair and neck. The TV in the background is playing some action movie Tamaki was watching earlier, but he’s already forgotten about it. The light from the street lamps stream inside through the half-closed curtains, painting a golden line on the hardwood floor.

“Tamaki?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you please stop distracting me from my book?” Iori asks, turning his head so he could look at him.

Tamaki hums. “No.”

“Why do I love you again?”

“Because I get rid of the spiders for you? And you said, and I quote, ‘you’re amazing. You’re an amazing friend and boyfriend and I don’t know how I lived through all those years without you.’”

Even from sitting behind Iori, Tamaki can see the tips of his ears reddening. Chuckling softly, he leans forward to press a kiss onto Iori’s cheek.

“You’re cute when you blush.”

“Stop it already!”

“And what would happen if I don’t?” Tamaki says, teasing Iori.

“I’d make you go away.”

Tamaki laughs. “No, you wouldn’t.”

Iori turns in his arms. “No, I wouldn’t.” He presses a soft kiss to Tamaki’s lips, lingering a few centimeters close after he pulls away. “I watched you go too many times to make you go away now.”

It’s Tamaki’s turn to blush.

Needless to say, he spends the night.

**Author's Note:**

> if you wanna talk to me, you can do it here:  
[tumblr ](annakashi.tumblr.com)  
[twitter](https://twitter.com/annakaashi)
> 
> ps. kudos and comments are very much appreciated<3


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